BOSTON — Bill Russell's legendary old number hung high up in the rafters at the TD Banknorth Garden on Monday night.

Meanwhile, down on the floor, Bill Russell's newest reincarnation was leading the Orlando Magic to a 95-90 Beantown clampdown of the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Without fail, we always hear the old-timers talk about how lucky they were to have watched the greatness of Russell, but maybe, just maybe, we're catching a glimpse of the grandeur ourselves in Dwight Howard.

Did you see Howard's absolutely Russell-esque stat line — 22 rebounds, 16 points, three blocked shots — Monday? Did you see how his defensive presence and rebounding down the stretch helped the Magic survive a frantic Celtics' rally? Did you see how he was unselfishly content to let the offense run through his teammates?

The Magic overcame anything and everything to win this game. They overcame the madness, magic and mystique of the Garden.

They overcame little green Celtic leprechauns infiltrating their psyche and telling them they were destined to choke away a 28-point second-half lead. I think they may have even overcome the ghost of Red Auerbach trying to blow the smoke of his victory cigar into their eyes.

But in the end, they somehow survived and stole away home-court advantage. And Dwight led the victory the same way Russell used to. Just listen:

"My main concern is defense," Dwight says. "There are going to be nights on offense when I don't get the ball or I'm not making shots, but the one thing my team can always count on is my defense."

I know, I know, it's basketball blasphemy to compare anyone to the legendary Russell. Fathers and grandfathers everywhere are probably on their rotary phones right now angrily calling the newspaper or inking up their quill to write a nasty letter to the editor.

Seriously, how many times over the years have we been sitting at a sports bar talking about basketball superstars of today when some indignant mossback will down his drink and growl, "These whippersnappers now couldn't touch Bill Russell!"

Hey, Pops, have another Manhattan and relax. I'm not suggesting the Dwight of this year is as great as the Celtics legend of yesteryear; I'm just saying he might be the closest thing to a modern-day Russell as we'll ever see.

In fact, Dwight, believe it or not, is a huge Russell aficionado. His favorite read is Russell's autobiography—Russell Rules—a book that has inspired him to adopt the iconic big man's philosophy of dogged defense, relentless shot blocking and indefatigably attacking the boards.

Young Dwight obviously has a long way to go, but there's no question he took a massive step toward Russell's realm this season when he became the youngest player in NBA history to become the Defensive Player of the Year and lead the league in rebounding and blocked shots.

As Russell put it: "When I came to the Celtics, I believed that it was possible to win games with defense alone."

It takes a certain mentality and unselfishness to attain legendary status. Russell was from another era, before endorsement deals, and Twitter tweets and Facebook friends. His entire focus was on becoming the greatest basketball player of his era.

As his name and game continue to grow, will Dwight continue to dedicate himself to the grunt work and heavy lifting Russell did throughout his career?

So far, so humble.

What 23-year-old basketball superstar in this hyped-up, hooped-up SportsCenter generation says before the season that his ambition is to lead the league in the unglamorous statistical categories of rebounding and blocked shots? That was Dwight's stated preseason goal and darned if he didn't accomplish it.

How appropriate that it was 40 years ago this week when Russell played his final game in Boston and led the Celtics to his 11th championship in 13 years. It marked the end of the greatest dynasty in professional sports history.

Now, four decades later, the Magic survived Monday for one of their biggest playoff victories in years. And they did it because we may very well be seeing the emergence of the next Russell.

All Dwight needs now is a few titles to get his jersey hung up in the rafters.